TV Review - Batwoman

If you're not aware of the CW super-hero shows that are being overseen by Greg Berlanti, then this show will probably have no interest for you. Starting with Arrow (2012), Berlanti and his team have been introducing characters from DC Comics to TV. This includes characters like Oliver Queen from Arrow who are human and fight human villains in more street-level battles. It also includes characters like Kara Danvers from Supergirl (2015) who have supernatural or extraordinary powers and who fight high-powered villains in more up-in-the-air or out-in-space battles. The character here is more the former than the latter. The character is human and does more street-level battles. It's strange though because the character here was introduced in the two aforementioned series.

Every year, for the past couple of years, Berlanti has been doing crossovers. He and his team will craft story lines, which are so big that it requires that characters in several of his TV shows be involved. Last year, the story line was called Elseworlds and it involved the characters going to another dimension and seeing alternate timelines. In those episodes, we meet Batwoman, the female version of Batman, the well-known vigilante who dresses in a black suit and cape and who fights crime on the streets of Gotham at night. The way that she fought, the way that she moved and even the entire look of her costume was extremely better than what we get here. Arguably though, the version we get here isn't the fully-formed character we met in Elseworlds. The character here is in many ways going through her origin story.

Ruby Rose (The Meg and Pitch Perfect 3) stars as Kate Kane, the younger cousin to Bruce Wayne, the richest man in Gotham City. It would mean her mother or father was a sibling to Bruce's parents. That exact relationship isn't spelled out here. We never meet Kate's mother or Kate's sister because both die in a car accident. Kate was in the car too, but Batman rescued her, yet failed to save Kate's mother and sister. When Batman abandons Gotham, Kate's father decides to start his own security company. Kate decides to join the military, but she gets kicked out of the academy because she's gay. Kate learns that her cousin is actually Batman and where his lair is, so after a new gang starts attacking her father's company, Kate takes up the mantle of Batman, literally dressing in his suit and using all of his technology to stop the gang. Why the version here couldn't have come up with all the technology herself or why she has to live in Batman's shadow is weird and a bit sad.

It's a superficial thing, but the way the suit looked on her in Elseworlds was better than how it looks on her here. In Elseworlds, her look was more feminine. The Bat-suit covered her face and head, but she had long red hair that poked out through the top. Here, it looks like just a black helmet or black bubble, covering her head. In Elseworlds, the suit had other flourishes that made it stand out. Here, it's just sheer black, which is more in-line with Batman's look, but I liked the flourishes. Beyond the superficial, the version of this character in Elseworlds felt more assured and confident. It's not the fault of this series that she's not there yet. She does gain the look she had in Elseworlds in Episode 3 here, but it's again weird that the series spins its wheels for so long trying to get out of Batman's shadow.

Rachel Skarsten (Reign and Lost Girl) co-stars as Alice, the head of the new gang that is attacking Kate's father and his company. It's revealed that Alice is actually Kate's sister who was presumed dead in the car crash. Somehow, she survived and is now out for revenge. She blames her father for abandoning her. She was lost and no one came to find her. How she rose to power and formed this gang is unknown.

The fact that all the characters here are related and fighting amongst each other makes this comic book series very soap opera-like. Unlike Arrow or Supergirl, it hasn't really been leading with his action, visual effects or stunt-work. It does seem to lean more on the melodrama.

Rated TV-14.
Running Time: 1 hr.
Sundays at 8PM on CW.